The studio, comprised of 17 former Blizzard employees including lead and senior developers from the World of Warcraft team, is led by industry veterans Kevin Beardslee, Tim Cain and Jeremy Gaffney. Kevin Beardslee, Carbine's vice president of design, was a lead developer on Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft. Tim Cain, Carbine's programming director, was the producer, lead programmer and designer on the award winning Fallout, and co-founder of Troika Games. Carbine's Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney previously worked as executive producer on NCsoft's City of Heroes, and established the product development group at NCsoft's Austin headquarters as VP of development. He was also a co-founder of Turbine, Inc., where he spearheaded development on Asheron's Call.

Carbine Studios is currently working on an unannounced project that promises to break new ground in massively multiplayer gaming.

"This is a dev team made in heaven," said Robert Garriott, CEO for NCsoft's North American business. "This group is as experienced as they come in the area of computer role playing and multiplayer game design. Making successful games is second nature to them. They are a very welcome addition to the NCsoft family. The gaming community should be excited to see what great things come out of Carbine Studios in the coming years."

"NCSoft's established global infrastructure, commitment to their development studios and passion for online gaming makes them an ideal partner," says Carbine co-founder Kevin Beardslee. "In the coming months Carbine Studios will continue to grow and we look forward to bringing many more talented industry professionals into our fold."

For more information on Carbine Studios and its job openings, go to http://www.carbinestudios.com.